Donald Trump is our president

I don’t know how many times I have heard or read “Donald Trump is our president.”

And every time I hear it, all I can think of is “Yes, yes he is — and God bless him because he is the president of the United States.”

You know who is not our president? Hillary Clinton.

You know how I know this? A. I don’t live under a rock. B. Donald Trump supporters say it every day. They either call my office, send anonymous letters or write about it online.

And you know what? I’m OK with that.

You know what I’m not OK with? What-aboutisms and but-Hillarys.

Not to copy our bi-weekly columnist Capt. Fred Davis, but: As I see It, Hillary is not our president, and she shouldn’t be relevant in politics today.

We have so many things happening right now. People’s wants and rights — on both sides of the aisle — are being put aside for petty political ambitions of lawmakers who are not in touch with America. The only thing they truly care about is keeping their jobs and toeing the party line — even when they have no idea what the party line is, or how the party should act.

For instance, Republican lawmakers earlier this week found themselves at a loss as to how to react to outcry about children who literally are in cages in America.

You can argue about the definition of cage, or say get lost in what-aboutisms (“What about this about Barack Obama/Democrats,” “What about that about Obama/Democrats”, etc.) and the but-Hillarys (“But Hillary and Benghazi,” “But Hillary and emails,” etc.). Yet kids will still be detained in confined spaces surrounded by metal walls (i.e. cages) in America.

I have my opinions about illegal immigration and separating children from their parents, but those are subjects of columns for another day. Today, I’m opining about my unhappiness with this entire narrative between liberals and conservatives.

It’s unfocused and it’s unproductive.

Rather than focusing on action, we find ourselves getting lost in trivial matters.

For example, this year, I have heard more complaints about the political cartoons in our newspaper than since I began working at the Tribune in 2006. Never mind the fact that political cartoonists have always made fun of the president. Yet people call and say “But Kate, your cartoons can’t make fun of him, he is our president.”

“Yes, yes he is — and God bless him because he is the president of the United States.”

But just like every president — and much more than any president because of his penchant for Tweeting — President Trump is, and will continue to be, fodder for political cartoons.

Should we stop running political cartoons in our newspaper? Because I have searched high and low to no avail for a cartoonist that doesn’t poke fun at the White House and president.

That’s literally their job.

Are we, as newspaper readers, so sensitive that we can’t even ignore a political cartoon that we don’t agree with?

I’d argue no, the majority of us are not like that. I’m sure it’s the vocal minority — which includes the group of people who will just not shut up about Hillary Clinton.

To them I say, “Donald Trump is our president.”

Kate Hessling is the editor of the Huron Daily Tribune. She can be reached at khessling@hearstnp.com.